


Coming Back

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: But if he can "somehow" return why cant i "somehow" kill him right, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), I come up with a pretty silly way to kill off Palps, Inspired by Before I Fall, Inspired by Edge of Tomorrow, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, World Between Worlds, Wow thats a real tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22197766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ben opened his eyes and was greeted by a voice he thought he would never hear again.“Long time no see, my naughty nephew.”He choked on his breath.In which Ben and Rey relived the last day of the war, but their roles are reversed. Could the Dyad in the Force prove that they really did share one(1)brain cell?
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 56





	Coming Back

**Author's Note:**

> In which Ben and Rey helped us "fix-it".

He remembered her relieved smile, the sweet taste of her dry yet smooth lips, and falling backwards onto the icy ground of the Sith Temple. 

He remembered dying. His panic at the fading of consciousness. The peace of his willing sacrifice. The pain that blasted at the back of his mind when he became one with the Force. 

Ben opened his eyes and was greeted by a voice he thought he would never hear again. 

“Long time no see, my naughty nephew.”

He choked on his breath. 

* * *

She remembered his toothy grin, his cold hand under her bloodied one; she remembered trying to hold him up with her arms, all but strong enough to keep her lover's life from slipping away. She remembered the sudden emptiness that struck the back of her mind, the sharp pain as his presence was ripped away from her soul. 

She jolted awake and she was not in the ship that she took from Exegol. The foreign ceiling stared back at her and she struggled to adapt to the light that was much too bright. 

And then she heard a familiar voice to her right. 

“Is this the Jedi girl I see? How did you get here?”

She was about to argue that she was no Jedi when an even more startling statement blurred her vision: 

“Where's my little starfighter? I'm pretty sure Ben was here just a second ago...”

* * *

“Uncle Luke... “ His first reaction started their conversation, one that they should have had years ago but was somehow delayed until the day he came back after death. Ten years after the Jedi Temple, Ben couldn't believe that he was now sitting next to his uncle and thinking about how to apologize. 

_What do I have to apologize for?_ He scowled at himself, _I was only defending myself…_

 _That, but not the battle on Crait._ An unpleasant voice said in response. Ben flinched a little realizing the absence of Palpatine’s lies and manipulations pushing harshly at the back of his mind. 

“I know. ”His uncle’s Force Ghost touched his shoulder, his projection surprisingly solid and real. “I should be apologizing, too, Ben. I’m so sorry for accusing you of the crimes you have never committed, things I knew that my nephew would never do but was too afraid and blinded to admit. I’m sorry for not being there for you, Ben. “

His eyes watered. Suddenly, Ben was at a loss of words. He took in his uncle’s features - his family had aged so much; the legend of the galaxy that he idolized as a child turned into the old man in front of him, giving him and apology he never thought he would receive. 

He burst out, “I thought I was dead.”

“You were, “ his uncle assured him, “but you went through a passageway in World Between Worlds and somehow ended up where she should be. At this moment.”

Ben would have been more astonished if an immediate wave of anxiety didn't brush against his mind at the mention of her. He faintly remembered the myth of World Between Worlds from one of the Jedi texts - but that was not what mattered now. 

“Where is Rey?”He demanded, a habit from his pathetically short career as a Supreme Leader. Then, realizing he had abandoned his position(in delight, he added mentally), he changed his tone. “Please. I need to know where she is.”

His uncle smiled at him with an unfamiliar expression. He wondered if it was pride. “Given the timing of your appearance, she’s probably with Lando.” 

Ben didn't realize he was holding his breath until he exhaled, his lungs - already died once, still a little stiff from the rare end-of-life experience - took in the fresh air on Ach-To with desperation.

If there was one thing that Ben Solo had shared with Kylo Ren over the span of ten years, it was that he trusted Uncle Lando more than anything. After the fateful event at the Jedi Temple, he flew to Uncle Lando despite Snoke’s - Palpatine’s, as it turned out - upsetting luring in his head. He handed his calligraphy set and his grandfather’s lightsaber that belonged to him to Lando and told him that he was never coming back, then fled Cloud City before his most trusted uncle could change his mind. 

_He should have stayed there a little longer._

Rey would be more than safe with Uncle Lando. If only she wasn’t planning on going to the last place they had been…

His blood suddenly went cold, the relief shattering in his chest. 

* * *

Rey stared down at the blaster in her hand. Lando expressed his surprise to see her but much less than his worry about Ben. 

“I…” She swallowed, forcing back the salty liquid that had never stopped since the last event in her previous life. “He saved my life and became one with the Force. On Exegol. It's hard to explain...but I think somehow I might have travelled back in time.”

Lando Calrissian shrugged off her explanation and muttered something about “the Jedi stuff”. “He really did that, didn’t he? I knew Han’s child would do anything for his girl. “

Rey flushed at the last two words, a strong rush of emotion made her throat tighten again. Hope arose in her heart; she silently thanked the Force for giving her another chance. 

“Wait, what do you mean by Ben was here a second ago?” The blaster looked oddly familiar, and from what Poe had told her, they should be on their way to the place where she never wanted to go to for a second time. It couldn’t be...

“He asked me to take him to Exegol. “ Lando gave her the expected answer. “Went to me crying and stuttering about the girl he cared the most about was alone against Palpatine. What else could I expect from Leia’s boy? “ His smiling eyes were glistening at the mention of his old friend. “Anyways, I made a promise years ago so I gave him this weapon - “ he nodded to the blaster Rey was holding in both hands - “to help him out of trouble. ”

That explained a lot. Not used to how Ben addressed her to his uncle, Rey’s blush deepened. 

She was back in time, given a chance to change what had happened...but if she somehow truly came into the past, why would she be on Millennium Falcon with Lando? She should be breaking down at Ach-To and talking to Master Skywalker before meeting that old freak who claimed to be her grandpa. 

_She would rather be a nobody._

A gentle tug in the Force startled her out of her thoughts. She turned around and to her horror, she was on the island once more. She could hear the wave behind her, and the squealing of porgs that scattered everywhere on Ach-To. 

“Rey? ”

She froze. Her hands began to shiver uncontrollably, grief renewed and washing over her senses. She was so afraid that once she turned her head around he would disappear in front of her eyes again. She was scared that he was no more than a memory, transferred to her by the Force just to evoke her further mourning of the loss, and she would wake up before this dream got too satisfying. She was terrified that she would wake up alone and it’d be the night again, and she could do nothing but clutching onto the black sweater hanging loosely on her shoulders and trying to imagine that she was not alone. 

Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi.

She turned around, ever so slowly. 

Ben was there. 

* * *

The Force connected them just in time. Her back was to him when he spoke up, and then she turned around with red, puffy eyes. 

As if she hadn’t been sleeping well for days.

“Rey. Don’t go to Exe-“

He stopped at the blank expression on her face. Rey looked at him as though she had seen through him, as though he was transparent and didn’t exist at all. Ben shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, all his attempt to persuade her was now gone. He came to the realization that of all the odds, he just wanted to see her again. 

He was so grateful that he could be here with the person he meant to save, who lived his life and was now very much alive. A feeling inside him stirred, like the fulfilling of his fate, like sacrificing for her was something he would never regret doing - 

“BEN SOLO!” his thoughts were interrupted by a loud cry and a pair of arms thrown around his shoulders. “Where the KRIFF have you been! You can’t just disappear and leave-” she choked on her own words, before pulling back and putting some distance between them. 

Then she smiled. Ben inhaled in disbelief. He had only seen her genuine, wide grin once. Merely seconds later he lost a lifetime with her. 

His eyes drifted to her lips - 

And he came to his senses that he had a warning to send and a future to remedy. “Rey, I’m sorry, but it seems like we swapped positions and are living through each other’s last day of the battles. I know it is important for you to confront the Emperor, but he is-”

Rey cut him off. “You mean we have to fight him again?”

_Come to Exegol, my dear children. You will become Emperor and Empress._

Ben went very, very still when the whisper of darkness brushed against his mind. In his memory, he saw them succumbing to the power of the Sith, incapacitated and kneeling before the Emperor, their life force being extracted and feeding the wrinkled corpse-like monster. He shuddered under the horror of the vision, but the fury and helplessness that took over him seeing her dying before the throne won over the fear. 

“Not we, Rey.” He paused, taking in the confusion and hurt that spread over her features. “Me. I’m going there alone.”

Her eyes widened in his declaration. “You can’t -”

“We cannot go together.” his words were rendered determination. “He said your coming together will be your undoing. He won by feeding on the life force of our bond. I would have a chance to win if he had no source of life force to supply himself with.”

He severed the link and Rey was left standing there, staring at where he had been. 

_Ben Solo was going to Exegol without her._

“Oh, Ben, “ She said under her breath as she held the blaster tighter in her hands. “When will you learn that I _never_ follow others’ commands.“

* * *

“I see you have made your decision.” Ben’s uncle said to him. The Jedi master was shedded in blue light, the Force hummed beside him all around the island. He looked at the boy he once failed, felt nothing but relief that Ben had finally found his way. 

Ben nodded, grasping the two lightsabers; one of them belonged to his grandfather and his uncle, the other belonged to his mother. His thumb gently grazed the edge of his mother’s lightsaber, and he felt as if his mother were smiling at him with forgiveness, granting him her blessing, encouraging him to do what he had to do. <pre>Text Inside 'pre' Tag</pre>

His memory flashed back to a moment ago, when he had told Luke that he threw his lightsaber in the sea. 

_“Impressive, you two are a true dyad in the Force,” his uncle had teased him, “that girl came to this island and burnt her ship. Trying to throw her lightsaber in fire. I wonder whose ship she had destroyed, though...”_

He had to admit that he was quite mad when he found out that Rey burnt his Whisper. Under the influence of his father, Ben absolutely had a thing for spaceships. His TIE fighter was one of the things that he truly loved after he became what Palpatine planned for him to be. 

_It was not nearly as precious as her._

“I know what I have to do,” he murmured, too ashamed to show his vulnerability to his uncle after their misunderstanding in his teenage years, “but I don’t have the strength to do it.”

“Confronting your fear is the destiny of a Jedi.” Said his uncle solemnly. “A thousand generations live in you now, Ben. You have the strength to do it.” 

An X-Wing was lifted out of the water, the Force was thrumming beside the master and his former padawan. The sea was singing a song so wild to match the rhythm of the balanced, unrestrained power. Ben looked at the horizon, knowing that it was time to go. 

The last words his uncle said to him was, “We will help you. May the Force be with you, kid.” 

“And with you, Uncle Luke.”

* * *

Rey didn’t waste time at the Resistance Base. She bid her farewell to the leaving fighters, thanked Lando for the blaster, and climbed into TIE fighter that the Resistance had shot down a few days ago, miraculously still able to fly after some repairing. 

_I’m coming for you, Ben._ She promised, pulling down her helmet and started the ship. _I will not leave you alone._

They had talked in their heads when he held her, for the last time, in his arms, because he was too weak to do otherwise and so was she. He projected that there was no need to thank him because if the role was ever reversed, he believed that she would have come back for him, too. 

How ironically the prophecy was fulfilled. Rey smirked to herself as she navigated the ship. She would be there in less than an hour. 

The excitement of fighting alongside her dyad in the Force was so overwhelming that it almost numbed her fear of having to face down the Emperor again. 

_Almost_. 

Rey knew that she had to form a plan that could get them out both alive. Or at least, get him out alive. 

_You would have done the same for me._ He had said.

_Yes, I would._

* * *

“My dearest boy...finally...”

The ghost from a distant past, bolstered by the foreign-looking machine indicating a use of dark science, snarled and moved towards Ben. He flinched, hoping that his mask was still on his face - he would be more fearless a fighter as Kylo Ren, because the latter had nothing left to save, no person left to love, and was nothing but an animal in the cage, a lie in the darkness. The exact opposite of who he was. 

_We will help you._

“I have killed the girl, master.” He lied, knowing that this would be a wrong move by any means. He was buying himself time. They would win this as how they won over Snoke, one of the replicas of the Emperor himself. 

“I can see your disloyalty in your eyes, Skywalker.” Palpatine hissed, “I offered you an opportunity to destroy my own bloodline, but you declined it due to the same weakness that had run in your family...”

“Master.” When Ben spoke, he kept his head down, but keeping an eye on the Emperor’s movements. “Whom I have killed was the weak-minded fool that Rey’s parents made her to be. I have turned her, Master, and Rey Palpatine, your true bloodline, arose from the nobody she believed herself to be. She is of full devotion to the dark side now, Master.”

The creature closed his eyes for one fleeting moment, and that was all Ben needed to make the first strike. He took out both sabers with one nimble movement, then threw his grandfather’s ahead with the Force, igniting it in the process. 

He didn’t aim for the Emperor. 

Palpatine stopped in the middle of his search and opened one eye, surprised for his attack, then he let out a snarky remark as the blade never came close to his body. “Stupid child, did you think I would fall for the same trick twice? You have learnt nothing from your pathetic-“ 

The sentence was never finished when a hissing sound came from above. The metal that formed the machine were quick to melt where they were in contact with the blue blade, which Ben was secretly controlling with two fingers hidden at his side. The Emperor was screaming through the black hole of his mouth, before his head snapped back and skin was torn from his cracked, corrupted skeleton, the vengeful breath leaving the monster’s chest. The stink of tarred meat and molten metal rendered the Sith Temple more sinister and dead than it had ever been. In the overwhelming darkness, only one source of light stood out. 

The lightsaber flew back to the fighter kneeling on the ground, who stood up just in time to catch the legacy saber in his hand. He shrugged off his hampering cloak, then turned to the Sith Troopers raising their weapon towards him. 

* * *

Rey evaluated her enemies under the disguise of her cloak and a smirk. She was mimicking the dark version of herself that she saw in Death Star - a girl who was dauntless and defiant enough to stand against her only living family. 

_You can’t deny the truth that is your family._ She had seen an old man on Jakku say to Kylo Ren in Ben’s memory. She couldn’t deny the truth that she was Rey Palpatine, but Rey Palpatine could very well also be a girl who inherited the endless power of the Darkside, a power enough to help her fight off her demons. 

_Don’t be afraid of who you truly are._ Her reflection had said to her. 

She could be Rey Palpatine as well as Rey Nobody. As long as who she was could help her confront her fears and save the boy she loved. She was defined by herself and her actions, not several letters in Basic that made up her name. 

The Knights of Ren were less intimidating than their master, but they won over her by their number. Rey’s hands were sweating. _Be with me._ She thought with desperation, to the Jedi, to Ben, to herself. _Come back. Be with me._

All out of sudden, her grandfather’s venomous Force signature flickered at the back of her mind and extinct. 

_Rey?_

Rey exhaled, opening her eyes. Ben was standing in front of her. 

_He succeeded. Their worst enemy was now nothing but particles in the space._

_They were so close yet so distant._

_You look good with the blue saber’s glow on your face_. She thought to him, half-jokingly. _Better than red anyways. Blue suits you more._

 _Rey-_ He was obviously in the middle of a fight, judging by his position of defense and the tenseness in his voice. 

_I’m fighting your apprentices, Kylo Ren,_ Rey pulled on the most dark-sider smile she could manage. 

_Look, I have destroyed the old thing so you-_

_Shut the kriff up, Ben Solo. You are not fighting alone. Good luck with the Sith Troopers._

Rey severed their connection but not soon enough to avoid hearing his comment. 

_I hate you._

The sentence was spoken with so much affection that Rey almost giggled out of joy. Her Ben was here, fighting off the last enemies they had, and she was standing with him. They were on their _own_ side. 

_And I love you_. She thought back, biting back the urge to smile. He reciprocated with a hasty tug at their bond, telling her all those things they didn’t have the chance to say in their last life. 

Rey sprinted, finishing off her first enemy in a swift swing of her lightsaber. 

* * *

They exited Exegol in a TIE fighter, where they shared their second kiss and maybe more. 

The coordinates were set in Naboo. 

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my mother language, so sorry for the errors!  
> Find me @dystopianinterstellar on Tumblr!


End file.
